Hugh Glass

Hugh Glass (1783-1833) was an American fur trapper in the Upper Missouri River region of the United States, including Montana, Nebraska, and The Dakotas. In 1823, he was left for dead by fellow fur traders John S. Fitzgerald and Jim Bridger after being mauled by a grizzly bear, and he would gain revenge against Fitzgerald for leaving him behind and killing his son Hawk. Glass became a folk legend, and he was killed by the Arikara in 1833.

Early Life
Hugh Glass was born in 1783 in Pennsylvania to Scots-Irish immigrants from Northern Ireland. Glass later moved to Texas, and in 1816 he was pressed into Jean Lafitte's pirate crew after being kidnapped, escaping by swimming to shore in Galveston. Glass was captured by Pawnee natives later on, and he lived with them for several years, marrying a Pawnee woman and having a son with her, naming him Hawk. One day, the US Army attacked the village and killed Glass' wife, and Hawk hid from the soldiers as they burned down the village; Glass avenged his wife's death by killing the officer.

In 1822, Glass decided to become a fur trapper by joining General William Henry Ashley's expedition of 100 men up the Missouri River to collect pelts from bison and other animals and return them to Fort Kiowa in present-day South Dakota. He was joined by his 15-year-old son Hawk, and he travelled in Captain Andrew Henry's company, including Jim Bridger and John S. Fitzgerald. Glass had the faith of Henry, but Fitzgerald was hostile towards Glass and Hawk, as he had been partially scalped by Indians years before and was angry at all natives. In 1823, an ambush killed 32 of the Americans, with the Arikara slaughtering the fur trappers after a bloody ambush. Glass had the fur trappers abandon their boat as it sailed down the river to mislead the Indians; two men disagreed and stayed on the boat as it went down the river, and they were killed; Fitzgerald was also opposed to the idea, but he went along with the rest of the company. They nearly got into a fight while Glass was cleaning his rifle, with Fitzgerald asking him if it was true that he killed an American officer, and it took Henry's intervention to stop a fight between the two.

Mauling by a bear
While Glass went scouting ahead of the party one day, he was attacked by a mother grizzly bear in the woods and was badly mauled. Parts of his back were torn off and his throat was slashed, sustaining injuries to the upper body as well as his feet. Glass succeeded in killing the bear with his knife, surviving the attack, but he was nearly killed and had to be carried in a stretcher by the company. When the company reached a tall and steep ridge, they had trouble carrying Glass, and Captain Henry reluctantly decided to leave Glass behind. He had Fitzgerald, Bridger, and Hawk stay with Glass for a reward of $300 each, but Fitzgerald was eager to kill Glass and carry on towards Fort Kiowa. Glass, who was unable to speak and was confined to a stretcher, was nearly gagged to death by Fitzgerald, but Hawk intervened. Fitzgerald struggled with Hawk and stabbed him in the waist with a knife, killing him; Glass was forced to see his son be killed, and the next morning Fitzgerald convinced Bridger (who was away gathering water at the time of Hawk's death) that 20 Arikara tribesmen were coming for them and that they had to abandon the "search" for Hawk and leave Glass behind as well. Glass was dragged into a grave and partially buried by Fitzgerald, but Bridger knew that Glass was alive and gave his canteen to him. Glass was forced to leave his son's body behind and begin a six-week journey back to Fort Kiowa.

Return to Fort Kiowa
Glass cauterized his neck wound by burning gunpowder on it, and he ate bone marrow and fish for a while, drinking from the rivers. One day, he came across a friendly Pawnee man named Hikuc, who gave him bison meat and offered to ride with him. Glass was fluent in Pawnee, so he was able to communicate with Hikuc, who told him that he had also lost his family in a Sioux attack; however, he said that "revenge is in the Creator's hands", saying that they were powerless to get revenge. They travelled together until Hikuc was hanged by pelt hunters under Toussaint Adde, and Glass headed to their camp to steal a horse. He witnessed Adde take Arikara woman Powaqa and rape her against a tree, so Glass snuck up on Adde and freed Powaqa as he tried to steal a horse. However, a hunter was alerted, so Glass killed two hunters and rode off on the horse as Powaqa castrated Adde and also fled. Glass was later ambushed by Arikara tribesmen and forced to flee, and his horse was killed as it rode near a cliff, sending Glass over the cliff with the horse. He emptied the horse of its innards and rested inside of it, and he continued his long journey to the fort.

Revenge
Later, a French hunter arrived at Fort Kiowa with Bridger's cantee, which Glass had left behind at his makeshift camp before the Pawnee attacked him. Captain Henry realized that Glass was alive and led a search party to find him, locating him and bringing him back to the fort. Fitzgerald fled with the fort's money, hoping to become a landowner in Texas or reenlist in the US Army to justify killing people. Glass was treated at the fort, but rather than recover, he convinced Henry to let him accompany him to track Fitzgerald down. The two of them eventually located Fitzgerald, but Fitzgerald killed Henry after ambushing him. Glass used Henry's body for a trap, hiding under pelts on the back of Henry's horse as the captain's body took the reins. When Fitzgerald shot Henry and ran down to see if he killed Glass, Glass came out from under the pelts and shot Fitzgerald in the shoulder. Glass chased a wounded Fitzgerald, and they eventually engaged in a melee fight along the riverside. Glass' ear was bitten off, his left leg stabbed, and his left hand run through, but he managed to mortally wound Fitzgerald. Glass then remembered that only God was capable of revenge, so he sent him downriver to some Arikara tribesmen, who killed him. When the mounted Arikara passed him, he noticed that Powaqa was riding with them, and the Arikara spared Glass. He was allowed to return to the fort, and his revenge was complete.

Later life and death
After getting his revenge against Fitzgerald, Glass returned to the frontier as a fur trader. He was employed as a hunter for the US Army garrison at Fort Union in North Dakota, but in the spring of 1833 he was attacked by the Arikara. Glass and two other frontiersmen were killed by the Indians, ending his life. After his death, many legends grew about his life, and he became a legend due to his revenge story.